Criminal Lowyers/ Advocates/ABA - Mumbai

Criminal Lowyers/ Advocates/ABA

A body of rules and statutes that defines conduct prohibited by the government because it threatens and harms publicsafety and welfare and that establishes punishment to be imposed for the commission of such acts.

The term criminal law generally refers to substantive criminal laws. Substantive criminal laws define crimes and mayestablish punishments. In contrast, Criminal Procedure describes the process through which the criminal laws areenforced. For example, the law prohibiting murder is a substantive criminal law. The manner in which government enforcesthis substantive law—through the gathering of evidence and prosecution—is generally considered a procedural matter.

Crimes are usually categorized as felonies or misdemeanors based on their nature and the maximum punishment that canbe imposed. A felony involves serious misconduct that is punishable by death or by imprisonment for more than one year.Most state criminal laws subdivide felonies into different classes with varying degrees of punishment. Crimes that do notamount to felonies are misdemeanors or violations. A misdemeanor is misconduct for which the law prescribes punishmentof no more than one year in prison. Lesser offenses, such as traffic and parking infractions, are often called violations andare considered a part of criminal law.

The power to make certain conduct illegal is granted to Congress by virtue of the Necessary and Proper Clause of theConstitution (art. I, § 8, cl. 18). Congress has the power to define and punish crimes whenever it is necessary and proper todo so, in order to accomplish and safeguard the goals of government and of society in general. Congress has widediscretion in classifying crimes as felonies or misdemeanors, and it may revise the classification of crimes.

State legislatures have the exclusive and inherent power to pass a law prohibiting and punishing any act, provided that thelaw does not contravene the provisions of the U.S. or state constitution. When classifying conduct as criminal, statelegislatures must ensure that the classification bears some reasonable relation to the welfare and safety of society.Municipalities may make designated behavior illegal insofar as the power to do so has been delegated to them by the statelegislature.

Laws passed by Congress or a state must define crimes with certainty. A citizen and the courts must have a clearunderstanding of a criminal law's requirements and prohibitions. The elements of a criminal law must be stated explicitly, and the statute must embody some reasonably discoverable standards of guilt. If the language of a statute does not plainlyshow what the legislature intended to prohibit and punish, the statute may be declared void for vagueness.

In deciding whether a statute is sufficiently certain and plain, the court must evaluate it from the standpoint of a person ofordinary intelligence who might be subject to its terms. A statute that fails to give such a person fair notice that theparticular conduct is forbidden is indefinite and therefore void. Courts will not hold a person criminally responsible forconduct that could not reasonably be understood to be illegal. However, mere difficulty in understanding the meaning of thewords used, or the Ambiguity of certain language, will not nullify a statute for vagueness.

A criminal statute does not lapse by failure of authorities to prosecute violations of it. If a statute is expressly repealed bythe legislature, but some of its provisions are at the same time re-enacted, the re-enacted provisions continue in forcewithout interruption. If a penal statute is repealed without a saving clause, which would provide that the statute continues ineffect for crimes that were committed prior to its repeal, violations committed prior to its repeal cannot be prosecuted orpunished after its repeal.

The same principles govern pending criminal proceedings. The punishment that is provided under a repealed statute withouta saving clause cannot be enforced, nor can the proceeding be prosecuted further, even if the accused pleads guilty. Acourt cannot inflict punishment under a statute that no longer exists. If a relevant statute is repealed while an appeal of aconviction is pending, the conviction must be set aside if there is no saving clause. However, once a final judgment ofconviction is handed down on appeal, a subsequent repeal of the statute upon which the conviction is based does notrequire reversal of the judgment.

Generally, two elements are required in order to find a person guilty of a crime: an overt criminal act and criminal intent. Therequirement of an Overt Act is fulfilled when the defendant purposely, knowingly, or recklessly does something prohibited bylaw. An act is purposeful when a person holds a conscious objective to engage in certain conduct or to cause a particularresult. To act knowingly means to do so voluntarily and deliberately, and not owing to mistake or some other innocentreason. An act is reckless when a person knows of an unjustifiable risk and consciously disregards it.

An omission, or failure to act, may constitute a criminal act if there is a duty to act. For example, a parent has a duty toprotect his or her child from harm. A parent's failure to take reasonable steps to protect a child could result in criminalcharges if the omission were considered to be at least reckless.

Ordinarily, a person cannot be convicted of a crime unless he or she is aware of all the facts that make his or her conductcriminal. However, if a person fails to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk, an act or omission involving that riskmay constitute negligent conduct that leads to criminal charges. Negligence gives rise to criminal charges only if thedefendant took a very unreasonable risk by acting or failing to act.

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